Ghanem killing will not stop Lebanese poll

MIDDLE EAST:Lebanese legislators yesterday vowed to go ahead with a presidential election despite the assassination of one of their number.

However, his murder torpedoed hopes of agreement on a consensus candidate who could reunite the deeply-divided country.

The governing March 14th coalition responded to the killing of Antoine Ghanem, the fourth of its deputies to die violently since February 2005, by blaming and castigating Syria and calling for a mass demonstration today to protest about the murder.

The coalition's stance killed off an effort by parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri to initiate dialogue with Saad Hariri, the coalition's head, and the Maronite Catholic patriarch, Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir. Both had indicated that they favoured a consensus president rather than a damaging contest between government and opposition which could lead to violence.

Mr Berri, a senior opposition figure who has adopted a conciliatory line towards the coalition, had been set to meet with Mr Hariri ahead of next Tuesday's assembly session at which voting on a new president is set to begin.

But the encounter was cancelled, making it all the more difficult for the coalition and the Hizbullah-led opposition to reach consensus before the November 24th deadline for choosing a new president.

An angry Mr Berri said, "There is a big conspiracy against Lebanon which threatens the fate of its people . . . I'm going ahead with Tuesday's session because we don't want the criminals' aims to be realised."

While eight high-profile figures have been killed and Syria is routinely blamed by the coalition, there have been no claims of responsibility, no firm identification of culprits, and arrests only for the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri which began the spate of bombings.

Dr Hisham Jaber, a former army general, said there are so many likely perpetrators that it is impossible to identify them. In his view, a large number of regional players are seeking to destabilise Lebanon in order to precipitate a third civil war.

Wednesday's incident took place as prime minister Fuad Siniora was in Saudi Arabia meeting King Abdullah who told him the only solution for Lebanon's crisis was a consensus president.

UN secretary general Ban Ki- moon said the same thing earlier in the week.

While the coalition still has 68 votes, enough to elect its nominee by a simple majority in the 127-member assembly, the opposition can boycott parliament, denying the two-thirds representation necessary for a quorum, thereby making an election impossible.